1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to wireless communications systems and, more particularly, to a power sharing process between different service systems to maximize power usage in a base station.
2. Description of the Related Art
This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present invention, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present invention. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
Over the past decades, wireless communication systems, sometimes referred to as mobile telephone systems or cellular telephone systems, have continued to evolve. Although the first mobile telephone system for the public was introduced in 1946, and improved in 1965, modern wireless technology was introduced in 1970 as advanced mobile phone service (AMPS), which became America's analog cellular standard. From the AMPS system, various digital wireless systems developed, such as personal communication services (PCS), which were introduced in the mid-1990s, as a second-generation wireless service. From the PCS systems, other technologies developed to increase the quality and capacity of the systems, such as time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA), and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM).
There is currently a move to develop a global standard for wireless technology, which has been dubbed the third generation or “3G” wireless standard. It is likely that the third generation wireless technology may be an enhanced version of one of the digital wireless technologies mentioned above. It is expected that such standardization will not only lead to further increases in capacity, but also lead to lower cost and increased efficiencies due to standardized networks that may be shared amongst various cellular providers.
With wireless communications systems, the limited number of radio frequencies available for wireless services is provided by scattering multiple lower-powered transceivers throughout a metropolitan area. In other words, each transceiver defines a “cell” that communicates with the customer's cellular telephone. As the customer moves from one cell to another, the customer's cellular telephone communicates with different transceivers to maintain the wireless connection.
In any given cellular market, such as a typical metropolitan area, a wireless communication system, or cellular network, typically includes multiple base stations that are distributed throughout the market. The base stations serve the wireless communication system, and perform the functions of switching calls to the appropriate destination and maintaining the connection with the various wireless customers. As such, the typical base station may include a number of systems or components that control switching functions, call processing, channel assignments, data interfaces, tracking, paging, call hand-off, billing, power distribution and user databases. The typical base station may include a radio tower, antennas, cables, equipment, such as a baseband system and a radio frequency (RF) system, and a cabinet that houses the equipment. In addition, the base stations are typically coupled to the public switched telephone network (PSTN), which is often referred to as a land-based telephone network. The connection to the PSTN allows the cellular telephone calls to be communicated with landline telephones or other wireless networks through the PSTN.
As can be appreciated, a base station can manage the communications with multiple wireless telephones. To do so, the base station utilizes individual communication channels for each of the customer telephones. The communication channels are developed from a portion of a radio frequency spectrum for a particular wireless service. A power system in the base station provides transmission power to amplify the signals for transmission to the customer telephones. The power system may allocate the transmission power based on the transmission requirements of the various services provided to the customer telephones. As such, the power utilized to transmit the signals to the customer telephones is managed to maintain the quality of the communication channels.
For instance, the base station may transmit power for different types of technologies, such as CDMA, that provide different types services to the wireless customers. Because the power is limited in a base station, the power allocation between these technologies may cause conflict between the systems that provide these services for the different technologies. Specifically, with CDMA technology, a system may include a 1x system that provides CDMA2000 1x services, such as voice and fundamental channel (FCH)/supplemental channel (SCH) data, and an evolution data and voice (EVDV) system that provides CDMA2000 1x EVDV services, such as high speed data, to the customer telephones from the base station. The 1x system, which contains 1x channels for voice and data, is utilized in the base station along with the EVDV system, which contains high speed data channels. The systems have to share the total transmission power of the base station, which may limit the performance of one or both systems. Accordingly, power constraints for the 1x system, such as a power overload threshold or overload control limitations, may be implemented to manage the 1x and EVDV systems in the sharing of power, while maintaining the quality of the communication channels.
However, the EVDV system and 1x system may not operate on the same time intervals. The EVDV system is able to operate and allocate power within a smaller time interval than the 1x system and the EVDV system may over-allocate power that is intended for the 1x system, or vice versa. This inappropriate allocation of power by the 1x system and the EVDV system may cause a power overload or a power underutilization situation in a combined 1x and EVDV system. Thus, the combined 1x and EVDV system may not operate efficiently in the base station.